Media Advisory
What: The ECOSOC Forum on Financing for Development follow-up (FfD Forum) is an annual platform to promote consensus among key stakeholders on financing for sustainable development. Over the course of the Forum’s four days of nearly 50 different panel discussions and side events, representatives from governments, financial institutions, civil society and the private sector will engage in dialogue on key trends and best practices that impact sustainable finance. These include climate change, inequalities and disruptive technologies. The resulting inter-governmental, agreed conclusions and recommendations are then embodied in an outcome document presented on Forum’s final day.
As part of this year’s Forum, the SDG Investment Fair will run from 15 to 17 April and offer a number of sessions to highlight the importance of national investment plans and projects designed to close the SDG investment gap, including opportunities to mobilize long-term investments for sustainable infrastructure, access capital and invest in projects to strengthen the social sector and promote investment in line with the SDGs.
When: Monday, 15 April to Thursday, 18 April 2019 – with some sessions starting at 8:00 a.m.
Where: All official proceeding will be held in the Trusteeship Council Chamber and webcast on http://webtv.un.org
Side events and SDG Investment Fair events will be held throughout the UN.
Highlights:
Monday, 15 April: 10:00 –10:30 am Opening of the Forum with H.E. Ms. Inga Rhonda King, President of the Economic and Social Council; H.E. Ms. María Fernanda Espinosa, President of the General Assembly; Mr. António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations; Mr. Tao Zhang, Deputy Managing, Director of the IMF; Mr. Mahmoud Mohieldin, Senior Vice President for the 2030 Development Agenda, United Nations Relations, and Partnerships, World Bank Group; Mr. Tim Yeend, Chef de Cabinet and Principal Advisor to the Director General, WTO.
10:30 –10:45 am Keynote address – H.E. Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Deputy Prime Minister, Singapore and Chair of G20 Eminent Persons Group on Global Financial Governance
10:45 –11:00 am Keynote address – Professor Raghuram G. Rajan, Katherine Dusak Miller Distinguished Service Professor of Finance, University of Chicago Booth School of Business
13:00 – The Secretary-General will announce he is convening the “Global Investors for Sustainable Development,” a CEO-driven alliance that will focus on creating long-term investments for sustainable development by addressing policy and institutional obstacles.
Thursday, 18 April: 5:15 – 5:45 pm Adoption of the outcome document; and 5:45 – 6:00 pm Closing with Amina J. Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General
Sessions and interactive dialogues include: “Mobilizing finance for climate action”, “Harnessing new technologies for financing the SDGs”, and “Public debt, vulnerabilities and SDGs”.
More information, including full schedules on both events can be found at: https://www.un.org/esa/ffd/ffdforum/
Background: This year’s Forum will pave the way for the High-level Dialogue on Financing for Development in September 2019 that follows the SDG Summit. This year also marks the end of the first four-year cycle of implementation efforts on the SDGs and Addis Ababa Action Agenda. The 2019 Forum is at the center of the Financing for Development follow-up process and is designed to: 1) review the implementation of the Addis Agenda; and 2) forge consensus among diverse stakeholders and spread policy expertise to advance implementation against rising economic and non-economic risks. The 2019 Financing for Sustainable Development Report launched last week serves as the substantive basis for discussions as the report offers key recommendations and actions to align global economic policies and financial systems with the 2030 Agenda, including harnessing the potential of financial innovation, technology and digitization.
For further information, please contact: Kate Donovan, UN DESA, Tel: 1 718 362 0606 kathryn.donovan@un.org
